BSBDIV501A DIVERSITY IN THE WORKPLACE PRESENTATION 1

PRESENTATION OUTLINE

• Diversity

• Diversity Benefits

• Diversity Legislation

• Promoting Diversity

• Definitions

DIVERSITY• Workplace diversity relates to any form of difference, such as:

• Diversity also relates to other areas in which people are different, such

as educational level, life experience, work experience and socio-

economic background

• Workplace diversity involves recognising the value of individual

differences and managing these in the workplace

• Ability, aptitude and disability• Age• Culture• Ethnicity• Gender• Language • Marital status

• Family arrangements• Nationality• Personality• Race• Religion• Sexuality

DIVERSITY BENEFITSTo maintain competitive advantage in a global economy organisation’s need to

capture ideas and information from a diverse workforce. Benefits of workforce

diversity can include:

• Fewer recruitment and training costs – employees feel welcome and stay

longer in their employment, poor management is associated with increased

staff turnover and absenteeism

• Encourages new ways to approach challenges, innovative suggestions and

decisions, creative problem solving processes, increased flexibility and market

responsiveness

• Diverse teams may produce better decisions, engage in more robust debate,

and generate more and better ideas than teams of people with similar

backgrounds

• A multicultural workforce can provide access to new markets and help develop

internationally successful products and services

• The value of a diverse workforce lies in how effectively it is managed

DIVERSITY LEGISLATION

The key Diversity legislation in Australia is the Anti-discrimination

legislation which follows the federal Acts. These include:

• Sex and Age Discrimination Amendment Act 2011

• Disability Discrimination and Other Human Rights Legislation Amendment Act 2009

• Fair Work Act 2009

• Work Healthy & Safety Act 2011

• Disability Discrimination Amendment Act 2005

• Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999

• Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Act 1986

• Racial Discrimination Amendment Act 1980

DIVERSITY LEGISLATION

• Together, they prohibit discrimination on the basis of:

• Sexual preference• Political opinion • Race and ethnicity• Sex• Social origin• Trade union activities• Religion• Parental status• Family responsibility• Irrelevant medical record

• Age • Breastfeeding• Marital status• Nationality• Gender• Colour• Carer status• Disability• Irrelevant criminal history

PROMOTING DIVERSITY

• To gain many of the advantages of a diverse workforce, it’s

necessary to promote the organisation’s diversity to internal and

external audiences

Internal means of promotion include:• Business meetings• Newsletters• Bulletins• Staff meetings• Staff updates• Staff training• Staff induction

External means of promotion include:• Conferences and seminars• Professional networks• Organisation website• Social media• Branding and image

PROMOTING DIVERSITY

• There are several benefits for promoting organisational workforce

diversity:

• To enhance and organization's reputation and image• To attract quality candidates• To expand market growth and develop new markets• To get new ideas from your diverse workforce to enhance products and services• To improve relationships with suppliers and providers• To contribute to your organisation’s competitive advantage• To compete in a global market

DEFINITIONSDisability refers to:

• Total or partial loss of the person’s bodily or mental functions

• Total or partial loss of a part of the body

• The presence in the body of organisms causing disease or illness

• The presences in the body of organisms capable of causing disease or

illness

• The malfunction, malformation or disfigurement of a part of the

person’s body

• A disorder or malfunction that results in the person learning from a

person without the disorder or malfunction

• A disorder, illness or disease that affects a person’s thought

processes, perception of reality, emotions or judgment or that results

in disturbed behaviour

DEFINITIONS

Family Responsibilities

• Means responsibilities of the person to care for or support:

A dependent child of the person

Any other immediate family member who is in need of care

and support

• “Dependent child” means a child who is wholly or substantially

dependent on the person

• “Immediate family member” include:

A spouse of the person

An adult child, parent, grandparent, grandchild or sibling of

the person or of a spouse of the person

DEFINITIONS

Gender and Sex

Sometimes it is hard to understand exactly what is meant by the

term gender, and how it differs from the closely related term sex

• Sex refers to the biological and physiological characteristics

that define men and women

• Gender refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviours,

activities, and attributes that a given society considers

appropriate for men and women

DEFINITIONS

Irrelevant Criminal Record

• The relevance of a job applicant’s or employee’s criminal record

should be assessed on a case-by-case basis against the inherent

requirements of the work he or she would be required to do and

the circumstances in which it has to be carried out

• A criminal record should not generally be an absolute bar to

employment of a person

• Only where the nature of the offence indicates a real likelihood of

re-offending, or where there is a genuine need for someone not to

have a criminal record, should a criminal record be relevant to a

person’s employment or their ability to access a service

DEFINITIONS

Parental Status

• Parental status means the status of being a parent or childless

• A parent can include a step-parent, adoptive parent and foster

parent

PRESENTATION SUMMARY

Now that you have completed this presentation you will know about:

• Diversity

• Diversity Benefits

• Diversity Legislation

• Promoting Diversity

• Definitions